


Three Shades of Red

by Phoebe_Snow



Series: Full Circle [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) Spoilers, Developing Friendships, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Feels, First Meetings, Gen, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Post-Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Post-Canon Fix-It, Vignette, What-If, tony's kids
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-19
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-03-07 19:48:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,894
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18880024
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phoebe_Snow/pseuds/Phoebe_Snow
Summary: Peter meets Morgan and Harley.





	Three Shades of Red

**Author's Note:**

> I'm mixed on this story since I've never written Peter - in a serious fic that is - and Harley and Morgan are also unknown characters to me in the realm of fanfiction. The prospect of writing a fic where they all interact was daunting, but my muse kept hitting me with a sledgehammer until I wrote it. So I did the best I could to write them convincingly. :3

* * *

 

 

Peter sat on a stump in the yard outside of the Stark cabin. He needed time to himself. They had just finished Tony's memorial and Aunt May was speaking to Mrs. Stark. Whatever it was they were talking about, he knew it must have been important. He wasn't surprised they'd been in a conversation for more than a few minutes. May hardly knew Pepper, but they shared a commonality in the loss of their husbands.

He sighed. Uncle Ben died nearly ten years ago, but Peter knew that, to this day, May felt his loss. Maybe in smaller ways as she'd learned to adapt and continue living without him, but did anyone truly stop grieving for their soulmate? He didn't think so. May would always miss Ben, just as Pepper would always miss Tony.

The memory of the hug Tony had given him upon seeing him again went through Peter's head. He wasn't a tactile person by nature and neither was Tony, but the man must have been so happy to see him that he just reacted - not that Peter complained when it happened. He was pleased to receive a hug from his mentor and it wasn't awkward one bit.

Tony had been a personal hero to Peter since he was a kid. When he ended up being recruited by Tony to fight the Avengers in Berlin - that had been one heck of a wild ride - he never imagined that the man would become a mentor to him, much less a father figure. No one had such a significant presence in his life since Uncle Ben.

Tony hadn't even been in Peter's life for a long time, but it'd been enough to make an impact on him. His wife, Pepper, knew how much he cared abut the boy as well. Some time after his memorial, she sought him out and gave him Tony's favorite pair of glasses.

Of course, Peter refused - he didn't think he had a right to keep them - but Pepper looked into his eyes and said "I know he would have wanted you to have these. I'm not the person who needs them, you do. I trust you'll put them to good use, Peter."

So he took the glasses with no further complaint. After all, who was he to argue with his mentor's widow? After all, she wouldn't have given them to him if she weren't sure it was what Tony wanted.

"Hi."

Peter startled and nearly fell off the stump upon which he sat and he turned his head to see little Morgan Stark. Oh. How strange to think that while he'd been dead, Tony married Pepper and had a family. The girl looked so much like her father, too. She was barely five years old, but he could see intelligence in those brown eyes. It reminded him of Tony.

"Hey," he replied, giving the girl a wave.

"You're the boy from the picture."

"Picture?"

Morgan nodded and handed Peter a picture that he and Tony had taken when he received his certificate for completing his internship with Stark Industries. Peter's eyebrows rose in surprise. He was unaware that Tony framed it. His eyes grew glassy and he wiped at them with his sleeve.

"Geez, I'm sorry."

"It's okay. Mommy said that tears are what come out of your heart when you're sad, but you can't say the words."

"She did? That makes a lot of sense, actually."

"I think so, too." She was silent for a moment before she continued. "You're Peter Parker."

"Yeah. And you're Morgan."

"Uh-huh. Daddy had a bunch of friends, but he talked about you a lot." She cocked her head at him and her next words were much softer. "Were you his friend, too?"

"He was. He taught me a lot of stuff and I looked up to him for a long time. You know, he actually saved my life once."

"He did?" Morgan's eyes widened and she sat down on the ground. Her black dress would be pretty dirty from the spot she sat, but Peter didn't bother her about it.

"It happened years ago when I was a few years older than you. I was wearing an Iron Man mask and this robot was about to hurt me because it was trying to get rid of the real Iron Man - your dad, that is. I could've gotten hurt, but he saved me and I never forgot it." He wanted to elaborate, but seeing that she was so young, he decided to skip over the part about how he had nearly been killed. She didn't need to hear any more about death today.

"I don't understand how he's gone. I know he can't talk to me, or play with me or eat juice pops with me and that makes me sad. I have mommy still, but I feel so sad because daddy isn't here anymore." She wiped her eyes.

"I feel sad too, Morgan, but you know what? Your dad is a part of you. As long as you remember him, he's here in your heart." He touched his chest. "You can't see him and you can't feel him, but he's there."

"Like the wind?"

Peter smiled. "Exactly. Like the wind."

"Excuse me," a voice came from behind them.

Morgan and Peter turned their heads and saw a tall boy standing nearby with his hands in his jacket pockets. He looked like he were in his early twenties and his lips were slightly curved upwards, forming a not-so-complete smile. Neither of the two recognized him.

"I'm sorry for interrupting, but I wanted to meet you. You're the guy who won the Stark internship, right?"

"I am. Peter Parker." He stood and shook the other boy's hand.

"Harley Keener. Nice to meet you."

"I'm Morgan." The girl piped up and waved.

"Wow, yeah. You really do look a lot like your dad." Harley smiled and put his hands in his pockets.

"Thank you." She beamed.

"How did you know I won a Stark internship? It wasn't in the papers or anything."

"I have a few friends who work at Stark Industries. Word got around that you were kinda like Tony's protege."

Peter kept his facial expression neutral and nodded. Maintaining his secret identity was very important and only the Avengers and a select few people who were affiliated with the group of superheroes knew his secret identity. His Spidey sense wasn't tingling, so he wasn't concerned about this guy's interest.

Harley's words were flattering because Peter hadn't really thought of himself as a protégé, but he really was. "You could say that I guess. He gave me a chance to do something worthwhile and I'll always be grateful to him for that."

"That's awesome. Not a lot of people can say they had an opportunity like that, especially from a man like Tony Stark." Harley leaned against a tree. "You're lucky you got to experience that."

"Thanks. I'm glad I did too."

Morgan rested her chin on her hand. "How did you know my daddy?"

"Believe it or not, I found him in my garage eleven years ago."

Peter knit his brows together. "What did he do, break in?"

"Actually, yeah."

Morgan gaped. Why would her daddy break into a person's garage? That didn't seem like him at all. "Did he have a reason?"

"I'll say. The Mandarin was after him."

"My daddy was attacked by a fruit?"

Harley chuckled and shook his head. "No, not a fruit. The Mandarin is just his name. This was a big, bad guy who was causing problems for people all over the world. He was in the newspapers and on the tv. Everyone thought he was dangerous, but it turned out that he was just an actor pretending to be someone called the Mandarin."

"An actor like in a movie. So it was all pretend?"

"Er, some of it was, but that's another story. It happened years before you were born, so you wouldn't know about it."

Peter snapped his fingers. "Oh, yeah. I remember reading about that Mandarin situation. I was just a kid at the time and I don't know all of the details, but didn't he blow up Tony's house in Malibu?"

"Yeah, it was after that happened when I met him."

"Really?"

"Mmhm. His suit got damaged, but he managed to fly to Tennessee where I used to live."

He proceeded to tell Peter and Morgan about his adventure with Tony Stark, although he watered down some of the facts since Morgan was young and didn't need to hear anything that would scare her. It was nice, sharing experiences they all had with Tony. Morgan was his only biological child and Harley and Peter had also been like adopted sons to him. In that way, the three shared a kinship with each other.

When it was time for them to leave, Morgan rushed over and gave both young men a big hug.

"You'll have to come over and tell me more stories about daddy!" They couldn't resist returning her affections smile before making their way to their individual cars.

Pepper noticed how long they all talked to one another after the memorial and she was pleased to see it. The boys were quite a deal older than Morgan, but they seemed to get along well. Tony would have been so proud to see that.

All of the Avengers knew that Peter was like a son to him, but Harley had also made a connection with Tony in the short time he spent in Tennessee years ago. Every month since then, he'd call Harley and spend an hour talking to the boy about school and what he was doing in his life. Fewer people knew about this because this boy had forged a bond with the older man when he'd been at a low point suffering from PTSD. Harley had even helped Tony snap out of an anxiety attack once. So yes, he had a special place in Tony's heart just like Peter did.

As for the boys, they also got to know Pepper on their visits to the Stark cabin. At first, they felt some apprehension at the thought of being a part of Morgan's life, almost feeling as if they were intruding. Pepper sensed their unease, so one day, she took Peter and Harley aside and told them they both were important to Tony and he would've wanted them to know his daughter. After that, their concerns were no longer an issue.

In time, Peter and Harley became like Morgan's unofficial big brothers and they'd visit a few times a month. They both lived close enough nearby that they managed to show up and spend time with Morgan.

They'd pick her up from school and help her with homework, take her fishing, swimming, berry picking, just simple things. Morgan enjoyed getting to be a kid and even though she would always miss her father, she had a several recordings he'd left for her to watch, one for each year until she was twenty. In addition to that, she had her mother, Uncle Rhodey, Uncle Happy, Aunty Nat and Uncle Steve to love and care for her.

As for the visits from Peter and Harley, Morgan was ecstatic each time they arrived. She'd often wished for an older brother. Now, she had _two_. 

 


End file.
